“Truth or Dare” is less a work of creative effort than a piece of merchandise you order up on your phone. It’s disposable entertainment, the cinematic equivalent of gas station pizza -- more notable for its availability than any brush with quality. It has all the distinguishing markers of low-grade, uninspired horror these days: kitschy premise that combines an old-timey concept with social media omni-connectivity; enough violence to seem “hard” while staying safely within the confines of the economically palatable PG-13 box; an improbably attractive cast of high school- or college-age students, played by actors bumping up against -- and in a couple cases, cruising right past -- age 30; the old saw of “the game turns deadly” as youthful frivolity gives way to mounting mayhem; a toll of deaths that steadily bumps up the body count while the remaining characters frantically test the limits of the “you can’t stop it” confines.
Truth or Dare
Truth or Dare
Truth or Dare
“Truth or Dare” is less a work of creative effort than a piece of merchandise you order up on your phone. It’s disposable entertainment, the cinematic equivalent of gas station pizza -- more notable for its availability than any brush with quality. It has all the distinguishing markers of low-grade, uninspired horror these days: kitschy premise that combines an old-timey concept with social media omni-connectivity; enough violence to seem “hard” while staying safely within the confines of the economically palatable PG-13 box; an improbably attractive cast of high school- or college-age students, played by actors bumping up against -- and in a couple cases, cruising right past -- age 30; the old saw of “the game turns deadly” as youthful frivolity gives way to mounting mayhem; a toll of deaths that steadily bumps up the body count while the remaining characters frantically test the limits of the “you can’t stop it” confines.